G3-247 Report GERMANY
Cashpoint introduced the new betting terminal ‘Merkur Bet Book.’ The Merkur Bet Book looks like an opened book - all corresponding sports betting content is easy to read and clearly shown on two vertically installed 27ins. monitors. Furthermore, it has been devised to be simple to use and offers great betting comfort and security. The ‘Bet Book’ is also available in a solo version.
Happy Bet has been active in the German sports betting market for over 10 years with over 1,500 POS terminals in operation. Happy Bet also offers a complete sports-betting concept as a franchise system. Happy Bet works under the brand Happy Affiliates, offering a wide online portfolio:
Happybet.com,
Happybet.de and
Platincasino.com. On the online gaming side, this company works together with Merkur Gaming.
Slovakia’s Evona is active in sports-betting, and is a betting office provider, betting software devel- oper, and also manufacturer of betting terminals for sports, live sports, dog and horse races, bingo and lotto. Evona offers complete support for oper- ators and also betting software solutions. Evona has sport-betting activities in Europe, Asia, Africa and America as well Evona offers sports betting terminals. Furthermore, another model is the bet- ting tablet or version for the cashier. The advan- tage for customers is that company Evona can deliver to customer ‘All in one’ - machine, soft- ware, sport events, odds and results.
CONCLUSION The IMA continues to be dominated by
demand for higher quality products for players. Since the industry cannot invest in new arcades, it can invest in upgrading them as deemed required. This includes seating. Here Patir is very strong in the market with a wide range of quality seating solutions. The latest addition is the Cobra VIP seat in which play buttons can be integrated. This reflects the new trend towards VIP seats so that players can enjoy playing more comfortably. Furthermore, arcades often have ample space to accommodate larger chairs. There were several other seating exhibitors, noticeable Amani. This up-and-coming company offers scratch and resistant-free chairs with a five year guarantee.
SPORTS BETTING Sports-betting remains to be regulated (see inter-
view with Dr. Böhm). It is expected that such reg- ulations will not come into force until the earliest 2015. The sports-betting presence at the IMA was strong, including Admiral, Cashpoint, Tipico, Happy Bet and Evona.
Admiral has made the following statement on the market situation:
The industry has changed
completely over the past years. Arcades are ‘entertainment centres’ and the number of
Germans who like to play on AWPs has doubled.
Despite the fact that development in the licensing process was already well advanced, licence allo- cations were once again postponed by politics at the end of 2013. A decision which surprised and disappointed the management of Admiral Sportwetten GmbH, especially since it had already successfully completed the second stage of the concession process in March of last year. “Nevertheless, as Admiral Sportwetten and as a part of the Novomatic Group, we stick by our phi- losophy and will only be active in markets which are clearly regulated by law,” commented Helmut Schneller, managing director of Admiral Sportwetten.
Gauselmann and Löwen. Bally Wulff is enjoying success with its focus on AWPs together with jackpot systems. Austrian manufacturers AMATIC Industries and APEX gaming are both well estab- lished. The move to banknote recycling in AWPs has seen more and more innovations being brought to the market here. Although the IMA is also marketed as a vending show, apart from a vending machine in the guise of a ‘Gaminator’ from the Austrian company Grapos, vending is negligible. This is well and truly an exhibition for the German AWP market. With sports-betting set to be legalised, this sector should continue to grow.
Despite all the uncertainties ahead, it can be con- cluded that the German AWP industry is uniting to counteract the preconceived points of view held by too many decision makers in the political land- scape. This industry employs 70,000 people. There are more than 6,000 companies active in this industry. From a total turnover of approx. €5.55bn, approx. €1.60bn are paid in taxes. The industry has changed completely over the past years. Arcades are rightly called ‘entertainment centres’ and the number of Germans who like to play on AWPs has doubled from five million to 10 million. This includes many more women who enjoy playing AWPs. The average cost per play per hour has fallen as well as the average number of machines being played on at one time. These facts are being brought to the public and politicians’ attention. There is hope that disaster will not strike in 2017.
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